Society for Risk Analysis
New England Chapter
2011-2012 Event Series
MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
Friday, March 23, 2012
Refreshments: 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Presentation and Discussion: 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Lifestyle Risks:
The Challenges of Regulating Excessive Consumption of Alcohol, Tobacco and Unhealthy Foods
Co-Sponsored by the SRA Economics and Benefits Analysis
Specialty group and the Risk Policy and Law Specialty Group
Presenter
Alberto Alemanno
Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law & Risk Regulation, HEC Paris
Discussants
Brian Morrison, Industrial Economics, Incorporated
James K. Hammitt, Harvard Center for Risk Analysis
Location
Industrial Economics, Incorporated
2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Fourth Floor
Cambridge, MA 02140
Please RSVP by Monday, March 19th to Debra A. Kaden ().
Space is limited, so reserve your seat today. For more information on SRA-NE, please go to: www.sra-ne.org.
Abstract of Presentation
Alberto Alemanno Regulating Lifestyle Risks: The Challenges of Regulating Excessive Consumption of Alcohol, Tobacco and Unhealthy Foods
As more and more citizens come to reap the benefits of open trade on a global scale, as well as extended lifespan and high quality of life, they also seem to expect public authorities to deliver more protection against those threats, whether industrial or natural. Amid contemporary preoccupations with risks, managing threats to society has become one of the central tasks of governments. Despite its lack of full statehood, the EU does not seem an exception to this trend. Although not originally foreseen in the founding Treaty, the EU has over the last two decades witnessed the enactment of a vast body of legislation aimed at the protection of individuals’ health and safety. Collectively, this large body of legislation is often referred as ‘risk regulation’ because it seeks to address the risk of harm to individuals and society, stemming from all threats whether industrial or natural, voluntary or involuntary. As such it represents today the most important and widespread form of EU regulation. The EU’s involvement in the government of risk is likely to grow and go beyond traditional product regulation. Due to the rising awareness of the link between good health and economic performance as recently identified by the Political Declaration on NCDs adopted by the UN General Assembly and the subsequent need to tackle the so-called lifestyle health risk determinants, such as tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption and unhealthy diets, the EU is progressively shaping – despite its limited competence in health matters – a ‘EU lifestyle policy.’
After illustrating the main features of this EU emerging policy, by focusing on the coexistence of traditional regulatory and self-regulatory mechanisms, this presentation offers an account of the legal, moral and public health challenges facing governmental efforts aimed at curbing lifestyle risks. It will also briefly look at the legitimacy and effectiveness of ‘nudging’ policies as recently tested in the UK by the “Behavioural Insight Team.”
Biographical Sketches of Presenter and Discussants
Alberto Alemanno is Associate Professor of Law at HEC Paris where he holds a Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law & Risk Regulation. He is also Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to joining the HEC faculty, he clerked at the European Court of Justice. He is the recipient of the 2011 Chauncey Star Award from the Society for Risk Analysis.
Alemanno has published Trade in Food - Regulatory and Judicial Approaches in the EU and the WTO (Cameron May, 2007), a monograph devoted to the evolving and emotive area of food and trade law. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Risk Regulation. He is the founder and scientific director of the Summer Academy on Global Food Law and Policy that takes place every summer on the shores of Como Lake.
Originally from Italy, Alemanno earned L.L.M. degrees from Harvard Law School and the College of Europe, and a Ph.D. in International Law and Economics from Bocconi University.
For more information, see http://albertoalemanno.eu/.
Brian Morrison is a Principal at Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc) with over 30 years of experience analyzing the costs and benefits of regulations, policies, and programs designed to protect human health and the environment. Since 2001 he has served as one of IEc’s lead consultants to Health Canada for cost-benefit analysis services. In this capacity he has helped to develop a wide range of economic studies in support of departmental initiatives, including a number of efforts on behalf of the Government of Canada’s tobacco control program. These projects range from primary research on the benefits of smoking cessation to analyses of the costs and benefits of changes in tobacco control regulations.
Mr. Morrison is a graduate of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a Master’s in Public Policy and was awarded a Harvard University fellowship. He received his Bachelor of Arts from St. Lawrence University, where he graduated summa cum laude with Honors in Government.
James K. Hammitt is Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health and Director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. His teaching and research concern the development and application of decision and risk analysis to health and environmental policy. Dr. Hammitt’s work has addressed the challenges of changing unhealthy behaviors, for example, exploring individual willingness to pay for weight control treatment and the relationship between policies for ending opium addiction and for decreasing tobacco use. He recently co-edited the book, The Reality of Precaution: Comparing Risk Regulation in the United States and Europe (RFF Press, 2011).
Dr. Hammitt has served on numerous expert panels, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board and National Academies of Sciences committees, and chaired the Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, Dr. Hammitt worked at RAND; he is currently a Visiting Professor at the Toulouse School of Economics. He received his B.A. magna cum laude and Sc.M. in applied mathematics, and his M.P.P. and Ph.D. in public policy, from Harvard University.
Getting to the Event
Directions to Industrial Economics: http://www.indecon.com/iecweb/FindUsDriving.aspx and http://www.indecon.com/iecweb/FindUsDirections.aspx
§ From the MBTA Subway (on foot) - Take the Red Line train to Porter Square. Exit the T Station to the right and cross the street. Turn left and proceed northwest along Massachusetts Avenue, keeping the Porter Square Shopping Center to the right. Continue northwest approximately 0.2 miles to the Henderson Carriage Building, which is located at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Hadley Street. IEc is on the fourth floor.
§ By Bus - The 77 and 83 bus routes stop in front of the building. Other bus routes that stop nearby include the 88, 87, and 96.
§ Driving directions
From I-95/Route 128 : Take Exit 29 for "Route 2 East - Cambridge." Follow Route 2 East approximately 6.4 miles to the first set of lights, located at the intersection of Route 2 and Routes 3 and 16. Bear left at the intersection onto Route 3 North/Route 16 East, following the signs for Arlington and Medford. Proceed approximately 0.3 miles to the next set of lights. Turn right onto Massachusetts Avenue/Route 2A and proceed southeast approximately 0.9 miles, to the intersection of Rindge Ave. and Massachusetts Ave. Continue on Massachusetts Ave. through the Rindge Ave. intersection, then take the first left onto Russell Street. The entrance to the Henderson Carriage Building parking lot is between the second and third private residences on the right, approximately 50 yards down Russell Street.
From Harvard Square : Follow Massachusetts Ave. north approximately 1.1 miles to the Porter Square T Station. Continue on Massachusetts Ave. another 0.2 miles to the Henderson Carriage Building, which is located at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Hadley Street. Turn right onto Hadley. The entrance to the Henderson Carriage Building parking lot is on the left, immediately behind the building.
Parking is available along Massachusetts Avenue (meter parking) or you may park in the lot behind the Henderson Carriage Building in spots labeled “IEC”.
UPCOMING EVENTS - APRIL 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Special Presentation: Dr. Susan Tierney, Analysis Group
Fracking and Shale Gas: Analyzing the Risks and Opportunities
4:00 PM Welcome and Introduction to SRA
4:15PM Presentation
5:00 PM Panel and Audience Discussion
5:30 PM Refreshments and Networking
Location: Room 130, Boston University School of Education, 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA
SRA Members - please join us to helpincrease SRA-New England membership!
[See Attached Flyer]
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Joint SRA-NE/LSPA Seminar on the Vapor Intrusion Guidance
6:00 PM Registration and Cocktails/Networking
6:30 PM Welcome and remarks
6:45 PM Speakers
Location: Hilton Garden Inn, Waltham, MA
Speakers: Gerard Martin, MassDEP
[www.lspa.org]
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